Inspiring greater respect for marine life and our oceans through underwater photography

What do we need to know about how our everyday skin and hair products may be impacting our ocean's health? Given that our underwater world feels so distant, how can we inspire people to feel more connected to our oceans to want to protect them?

Our featured guest sharing her expertise on this episode is Alicia Ward, a professional underwater photographer who promotes respectful and responsible ocean etiquette and inspires conservation of marine life. She co-founded See Through Sea with her husband, Jim, which is a business dedicated to ocean conservation and the art of underwater storytelling. Let's dive in.

This is a conversation on Green Dreamer Podcast with Kaméa Chayne, a show exploring environmental and intersectional sustainability from ideas to life. Subscribe to Green Dreamer oniTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app and let’s learn what it takes to thrive in every sense of the word!

Highlights

[2:34] What first inspired Alicia's passion for the environment.

[5:02] How Alicia got into photography.

[6:39] Kaméa: "How did you learn to free-dive and how long did it take to master that?"

[9:00] How Alicia and her husband, Jim, started See Through Sea.

[10:15] Kaméa: "What's been one of your greatest struggles establishing your creative work and business?"

[10:48] Alicia talks about what it was like to be one of the very few young, female underwater photographers in an male-dominated industry.

[12:32] How Alicia got started and established herself in spite of being in a male-dominated industry.

[13:34] Alicia shares a few of her most touching memories from her underwater adventures.

[18:46] Kaméa: "What do you think it takes to move people – especially those who might not be especially interested in wildlife – to care for the ocean?"

[21:09] One specific ocean health issue that most people may not know of.

[22:05] Alicia: "The things we put on our bodies should be safe not only for us but for the ocean as well."

[23:24] Kaméa: "What do you think is the best way for us to inspire the public to think about the issue of ocean health?"

[24:49] Alicia: "People don't respond well when you say, You're doing things wrong, this is bad, don't do that. I think people respond a lot better to positive encouragement."

[26:38] What Alicia thinks is needed most in order to work toward a biodiverse, healthy planet.